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INDEPENDENT COMICS: Zoom (Amazing Adventures from Zoom's Academy)
INDEPENDENT COMICS IN THE MEDIA Zoom (also known as Zoom: Academy for Superheroes) is a 2006 American family superhero adventure comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. based upon the children's book Amazing Adventures from Zoom's Academy by Jason Lethcoe, the film stars Tim Allen, Courteney Cox, Chevy Chase, Ryan Newman, Kate Mara, Spencer Breslin, Michael Cassidy, Kevin Zegers, and Rip Torn. It was written by Adam Rifkin and David Berenbaum. It was theatrically released on August 11, 2006 by Columbia Pictures. YOUTUBE MOVIE: PLOT Decades prior to the start of the film, the Zenith team are five young superheroes who fought to protect the world from evil, led by Jack Shepard ("Captain Zoom") and his older brother Connor Shepard ("Concussion"). The American military sought to enhance the team's powers using an experimental form of radiation called "Gamma-13". This made Zoom faster and stronger, but the gamma turned Concussion to the dark side. Thinking Zoom and the team betrayed him, Concussion killed his teammates Marksman, Ace, and Daravia. Concussion was believed to have been destroyed by Zoom at the cost of his powers, but was sent into another dimension instead. Thirty years later, Dr. Ed Grant, the scientist behind the original Zenith Project, discovers that Concussion is making his way back into their dimension. General Larraby, the military officer in charge of the Project, decides to form a new Zenith Team to fight him. Jack finds himself dragged back into the Project, this time as an instructor. He is told that a new team is needed to battle a great menace, but is not told what it is. Jack is also told that if natural training does not prepare the new team in time, they will be exposed to Gamma-13. In their secret base, Area 52 (a reference to Area 51), he meets Marsha Holloway, who is a beautiful but clumsy psychologist, a big fan of Zoom's, and knows of him only through the comic book adaptations of the team's adventures. The project holds an audition of would-be members, and four are selected: Dylan West, a seventeen-year-old boy possessing invisibility, Summer Jones, a sixteen-year-old girl with telekinetic powers and empathic senses, Tucker Williams, a twelve-year-old boy who can enlarge and inflate himself at will and Cindy Collins, a six-year-old girl with super strength. At first, things do not go well with Jack being bitter about the past and his sarcastic attitude disappoints Marsha. Dylan keeps trying to escape, Tucker has self-esteem problems and trouble controlling his powers, and the kids are annoyed by Jack's attitude. The team eventually forces Jack to face the fact that he's not really putting his heart into their training. Slowly things begin to come together as the new team's abilities improve, they adopt superhero identities. Eventually, just as Concussion is about to arrive on Earth, it is discovered that Dylan also possesses a kind of clairsentience, also known as mindsight, a rare power that allows him to discover Concussion's location and the project's true purpose. The team is meant merely as a distraction from the military's plans to capture Concussion in a special net that will cause his concussive blasts to reflect on himself, neutralizing him. Marsha also reveals that she secretly possesses a form of rainbow-colored super breath, which she uses to aid the team in their escape when the military is about to transfer them to the Gamma-13 chamber. Using the malfunctioning flying saucer stored in the base, which they repair on the way, Jack escapes with the team, including Marsha. He is dropped off at a point in a desert where Concussion will arrive, planning to try to talk to him. Jack tells the team to avoid the confrontation, but they refuse. When Concussion arrives, Larraby orders the net to be fired, but Concussion blasts it away and it almost lands on Cindy. This causes Jack to regain his powers and he saves her. Working together, the team (plus Marsha) guide Concussion into a vortex that Zoom creates by running around in a circle at super-speed in the opposite direction as before. Dr. Grant yells to Zoom that if he closes the vortex, they can save Concussion. The vortex ultimately removes the Gamma-13 from Connor and restores his powers to normal, thus turning him good again. Zoom and Concussion are reunited. Three months later, Cindy is in a school play of Rapunzel, using her strength to pull the "prince" up the tower. Tucker is the goalie on the soccer team, and Dylan is dating Summer, who is on the cheerleading team, using her telekinetic power to help build an upside-down pyramid. In addition, they still work together with Zoom as the new Zenith Team. WHO'S WHO: BASED ON: “ARE YOU READY TO BE TOTALLY FREAKED OUT?” As the most unpopular kid in high school, Summer Jones isn’t ready for much of anything, except for teasing from classmates. Then Jasper, her eccentric Dad, makes a shocking disclosure: He’s a professor at Zoom’s Academy, a school that develops super-powers in select students. Before Summer can say “lost his marbles,” Jasper gives her a strange ring, which glows the instant Summer slips it on her finger. Okay, now she’s ready to be totally freaked out! So begins Summer’s amazing adventures, as she blasts off to an astonishing campus in the clouds. It is a place where rockets run on lime gelatin, shiny brass robots zip around, and caped (soon-to-be-crusading) kids fly the skies and fine tune their special gifts–from lightning speed and elastic limbs to telepathy and colossal strength. Can it be true that Summer, a geeky girl with a paralyzing fear of heights, is a budding crime-fighting super hero? Yet while the faculty of Zoom’s Academy tries to discover what sort of super-powers Summer actually possesses, the dark headmaster of Zoom’s archrival, Grave’s School for the Villainous Arts, plots a hostile take-over, in which one unsuspecting girl will play a vital role in its sinister execution. Category:Comic Books in the Media Category:Independent Comics Category:Zoom Category:Zoom Academy for Superheroes Category:Jack Shepard - Captain Zoom Category:Dr. Marsha Holloway Category:Dr. Ed Grant Category:Summer Jones - Wonder Category:Cindy Collins - Princess Category:Dylan West - Houdini Category:Tucker Williams - Mega Boy Category:Connor Shepard - Concussion Category:General Larraby